Peter Schorsch - page 433

If Kathy San Pedro hadn’t gotten laid off in 2009, she might still be a paralegal. But when the law firm she worked for closed, she found herself with lots of time and energy. She attended a fundraiser for Jeanette Nunez, who was running for the Florida House. “She seemed like a breath of fresh air. She was young, married, a mom. She had accomplished so much. I told her, ‘If you need help, I just got laid off.’ I…

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Ashley Mayer is getting married in December, and would you believe it, instead of dealing with minutia of wedding invitations and place settings, she’d really rather be knee deep in details of insurance legislation. Ashley says she never dreamed that insurance would become her issue — or that planning her wedding could be such a pain. But after graduating from Florida State University Law School, she went to work for a private law firm and found herself doing insurance cases.…

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You never know where the road will take you, says Ieva Smidt and she should know. On her road, she has traveled from her native Lithuania to Philadelphia to Hamilton County, Fla., and to Tallahassee. Her parents, who immigrated from Lithuania when she was 3, are both doctors and she was going to pursue a career in medicine. But she wasn’t enjoying her science classes at Florida State University. Then one day she ran by the Republican Party office to…

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Kevin Reilly got into politics as a little kid sitting at the grownups’ table listening to his grandfather talk about the issues. So it was natural for him to get involved in student government at the University of Florida and was elected student body president. His leadership caught the eye of fellow Gator, Rep. John Tobia, who took him on as an aide. Since then he’s worked for the Republican Party and the Department of Elder Affairs. Currently he is…

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Kevin Cleary grew up hunting in Georgia and Florida, so it’s no surprise that one of his favorite places to be is in the woods at sunrise. “I love to watch the woods come alive,” he says. “I love to see the sun rise over the water and over the pines. It’s a very tranquil place to be.” The guy who likes tranquility describes one of his professional strengths as an ability to organize chaos. Whether it’s the rough and…

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Kristen McDonald already has a reputation in Tallahassee. She’s known as a communicator, a valuable talent in a town where there’s a whole lotta talking but not necessarily a whole lotta communicating. She’s developed those skills working for Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican Party of Florida and most recently as communications director for the House Majority Office. Her favorite part of the job, she said, “is interacting with 74 Republican members. I worked with all of them, helping them…

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Stephen Lawson wants everyone to know — but especially University of Florida alum — that it’s possible to live happily as a Gator in Seminole Country. He’s living proof. As president of the Capital Area Gator Club in Tallahassee, Lawson says, “there’s a strong vibrant Gator presence in Tallahassee.” Stephen says he’s in a unique position — he grew up in Tallahassee, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and classics at UF and a master’s in applied American politics…

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